Church of St Canice
St Canice was born in the townland of Drumramer near Limavady, circa 516AD. A friend and contemporary of St Columba who is widely regarded as the patron saint of the Roe. The parish church of Faughanvale in Eglinton village is named after him. The name Canice translates to Kenneth in Scotland. It is believed he was baptized in the townland of Ballycrum by St. Laurach, and also studied under St. Finian at Clonard along with Columba. He would later join St. Columba on Iona. Canice went to Wales to study at Llancarvan under St. Cadoc where he was ordained. After visiting Rome he returned to the Roe Valley and founded Drumachose monastery in 550 AD which existed on the site of the 12th-century ruin.
He spent the next 15 years of his life working with fellow monks converting the inhabitants of the Roe Valley to Christianity and founded the church at Faughanvale and Enagh. In circa 565 AD he left Ireland and joined Columba on Iona where he continued his work establishing monasteries and churches on the islands of Coll, Tiree, Mull, South Uist and Kintyre as well as on the Scottish mainland. It is highly likely that he returned to Ireland with Columba to attend the Convention of Drumceatt in 575AD. Shortly after this, he is credited with founding a monastery at Aghanloo, not far from his first monastic settlement of Drumachose. In 577 AD he founded the Abbey of Aghaboe where he spent the remainder of his life, he died there in 598 AD, aged 84 years.
